(7-a.m. News) — Two men from Creston were arrested on separate charges, Wednesday. According to the Creston Police Department, 19-year old Patrick Farlow was arrested at around 6:45-p.m. For Driving While Barred, on three-counts of Possession of a Concealed Weapon, and one count of Disarming a Peace Officer. His bond was set at $13,000.
And, at around 11:30-a.m. Wednesday, 23-year old Tyler White was arrested in Creston for Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Interference with Official Acts. White was later released from the Union County Jail on a $1,600 bond.

(Radio Iowa) — Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is asking officials in the Department of Homeland Security to explain how the man accused of murdering Mollie Tibbetts got from Mexico to Iowa — and was able to live here illegally for seven years. “We must prevent murders like this from occurring again,” Grassley says. “At a minimum, we must increase law enforcement presence at the border.”

Cristhian Rivera worked at a dairy farm near Brooklyn. Dane Lang of Yarrabee Farms says Rivera applied for work four years ago under a different name. Lang says his farming operation learned Wednesday it had NOT been using the federal E-Verify system, but rather a cross-check through Social Security to cross-check the identity of prospective employees. Senator Grassley says it’s time for congress to eliminate the potential for fraud and abuse in the E-Verify system.

“E-Verify ought to be mandatory instead of voluntary,” Grassley says, “but when you want to bring up an E-Verify mandatory policy the first stonewall you run into is the Chamber of Commerce and a lot of business groups don’t want to make it mandatory.” Grassley says migrant labor is desperately needed on ever-growing Iowa dairy farms, large-scale hog operations, meat processing facilities and in the state’s egg industry.

“If we did have these bills I’m talking about so people could have the papers to come to our country legally, go home when they want to (and) come back, that would basically solve our problem, right?” Grassley asks. But prospects for having the Senate pass any change in immigration policy are dim, according to Grassley. “If I could get a bill on the floor…without people on the right wanting to round up 11 million people and ship ’em out of the country…Now, I’m being a little facetious when I say that, but there is that feeling on the right,” Grassley says. “And then there’s a feeling on the left that we ought to, you know, legalize everybody yesterday.”

During a speech on the senate floor yesterday (Wednesday), Grassley said congress “has been dancing around the issue of securing our border and strengthening interior enforcement for far too long” and it’s time to fix the problem.

(Radio Iowa) — Homeowners, renters and businesses in four counties hit by flash flooding and severe weather in June and early July are not eligible for federal disaster aid. Governor Kim Reynolds says she is “extremely disappointed” officials in the Federal Emergency Management Agency have denied her request. She was seeking individual assistance grants from FEMA to help Iowans in Buchanan, Dickinson, Polk and Winnebago Counties repair and rebuild after storm damage.

FEMA officials sent a denial letter to the governor, saying the magnitude of damage to homes and businesses in those four counties was not severe enough to warrant federal help. Reynolds announced last (Wednesday) night she plans to appeal that decision.

On Monday, FEMA did decide it will forward federal money to help the state and local governments in 30 Iowa counties rebuild public facilities like roads and bridges that were damaged by flooding. The federal disaster grants will also cover some of the costs of debris removal and other emergency services. Among the counties now eligible to apply for Public Assistance Program funding is Adair and Dallas, in the KJAN listening area.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CDT

BROOKLYN, Iowa (AP) — For years, his employer said the young man from Mexico presented himself as a legal U.S. resident and reliable worker at a family dairy farm in Iowa. But this week, the image of Cristhian Bahena Rivera transformed in a matter of hours. Now he’s accused of illegally living and working in the U.S. and of being a predator who kidnapped and killed a beloved young woman. Rivera appeared in court Wednesday on a first-degree murder charge in the death of 20-year-old college student Mollie Tibbetts.

ADEL, Iowa (AP) — A judge has approved a motion to move the trial of an Iowa couple charged in the starvation death of their 16-year-old adopted daughter. The Des Moines Register reports that a judge on Wednesday agreed that pretrial publicity surrounding the case necessitated moving the trial of Marc and Misty Ray out of Dallas County. The Rays have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, child endangerment resulting in death and other counts related to the May 2017 death of Sabrina Ray.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Farmers and ranchers in two southeastern Iowa counties who’ve suffered losses and damages from recent drought may now be eligible for federal emergency loans. That news came Wednesday as the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that Appanoose and Van Buren counties have been designated as primary natural disaster areas.

MONTEZUMA, Iowa (AP) — Experts say the systems offered by the U.S. government to check the legal status of workers like the Mexican man now suspected of killing an Iowa college student can be easily exploited through identity fraud and gaps in government systems. In the case of Cristhian Bahena Rivera, the 24-year-old now charged with murder in the death of Mollie Tibbetts, Rivera’s ex-employer said Wednesday said it didn’t use the federal E-Verify program, correcting information it used a day earlier.

ADEL, Iowa (AP) — A judge has approved a motion to move the trial of an Iowa couple charged in the starvation death of their 16-year-old adopted daughter.
The Des Moines Register reports that a judge on Wednesday agreed that pretrial publicity surrounding the case necessitated moving the trial of Marc and Misty Ray out of Dallas County.

The Rays have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, child endangerment resulting in death and other counts related to the May 2017 death of Sabrina Ray in her Perry home.

Authorities say the girl weighed just 56 pounds when she died. Her brother, Justin Ray, was sentenced to 10 years in prison earlier this year for drop-kicking Sabrina down basement stairs, leaving her unable to walk, talk or eat in the days before her death. The girl’s adoptive grandmother was sentenced to 20 years for failing to seek medical help for Sabrina and for abusing other children in the household.